2 young men, Louis McKechnie (21) and Joshua Smith (29) were remanded in custody on Tuesday until their plea hearing at Northampton Crown Court on August 19th.
That’s 6 weeks in prison without trial.
So far this year 31 ordinary people, supporters of Just Stop Oil, have spent time locked up before going to hearings, racking up well over 150 days in prison between them.
Just Stop Oil’s disruption at Formula One and in various art galleries over the last couple of weeks has resulted in 22 arrests, for some of them bail conditions include being confined to their home residence between 7pm and 7am.
The Just Stop Oil Coalition has one simple demand – that the UK government makes a statement that it will immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.
Just Stop Oil supporters are prepared to lose their freedom to make this demand.
“If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.” Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, 18th May 2021 (1)
But the government continues to proceed with plans to grant 40 new oil and gas licences to open up new sources of the poison which condemns millions of people to suffer and die from the disasters wrought by climate change. (2)
Louis McKechnie said:
“I was brought up to believe there was a future ahead of me, that’s all I want. We’re all going to suffer and die unless we stop burning fossil fuels. Threatening us with prison and fines isn’t going to stop us demanding a liveable future. I will continue to speak the truth while politicians continue to lie to us saying we need oil and gas to survive, and ordinary people are driven into abject poverty and misery. Enough is enough. I will stop when the government stops new oil and gas.”
Joshua Smith, said
“Burning oil and gas is directly responsible for the climate crisis. If Governments aren’t made to end new fossil fuel projects then children alive today will grow up in a collapsing world with devastating heat waves, crop failure and ultimately no food on the shelves of Tesco. That means you having to explain to your children why they are going to bed hungry each night .
Successive governments have had 30 years to fix this, it’s obvious that our current political system cannot deal with such a monumental crisis. Resistance is the only sane response to this situation and it’s the only thing that will work.“
The Just Stop Oil Coalition is calling on all of those whose futures are being destroyed, who are facing poverty now, and who are outraged at yet another betrayal by this continuing dependence on oil and gas, to step up and take action.
Just Stop Oil supporters are being charged and imprisoned for telling the truth about the government’s genocidal pursuit of new oil and gas. We have made a conscious choice to resist the destruction of humanity and we are prepared to accept the consequences. We don’t need you to feel sorry for us, we need you to join us, to step up and take action.
Join our zoom calls every Tuesday at 7pm (3). It’s 2022 and the time to stand by has passed.
Notes
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/18/no-new-investment-in-fossil-fuels-demands-top-energy-economist
- https://neweconomics.org/2021/10/40-new-uk-fossil-fuel-projects-emitting-triple-the-uks-annual-emissions-could-be-approved-by-2025
- https://juststopoil.org/events/
